The Deep End all started one fall evening in Harvard, Massachusetts. I had recently moved to town and heard about a community yoga class. I decided to sign up, expecting this class would be like any other class. I grabbed my yoga mat, water bottle and headed out the door.

To my surprise, this class was not typical at all. Intermixed with yoga, there was a guest musician, hands-on healing, crystals, essential oil sprays, rose petals, and story-telling. Awesome!

The best part was after the class. Some of us would sit and talk ‘all things spiritual.’ This ranged from meditation to metaphysics and everything in between. The topics were endless. I’d come home from yoga all blissed out and filled up inside from sharing my passion with others. I didn’t know there had been a void in my life — a need for spirituality and connection to others.

Yoga Church

I nicknamed the class “Yoga Church” and my coworkers teased me about it. Yet, curiously awaited stories of what happened at the next class.

Then the class ended for the summer. All that connection and passion had come to an end. I went back to my regular life, regular job. Yoga Church was on break.

A few weeks later, I got a message from one of my yoga friends. Would I like to come to a weekly meditation and keep the momentum going? Did I? Oh yeah! I could barely hit reply fast enough.

That was a special summer. We were like embers feeding each other’s flame in our journey of self-discovery. We’d meditate, play guitar, share stories, read books. Many of us took turns leading the meditation and imparting our own thoughts and ideas to the group. These included astrology, earth medicine, sound healing, and shamanic practices. Every gift was welcome.

Our time together had been an awakening. We had grown so much we decided it was time to form a new collective. One that would be circular in its approach. One that would provide a collaborative community and serve as a source of information for each member.

I invited everyone to my house to brainstorm ideas. We gathered around my pool and realized the significance of water and how it embodied our journey together. Water – what a perfect metaphor for spirituality. It’s in all of us waiting to be discovered.

It was that summer the Deep End was founded. And although our group gets together regularly for meditation and local events, our online community has grown as a source of enrichment, wisdom, and well-being.

This article was written by Kristen Bala, Astrologer, Writer, and Founder of The Deep End. Learn more about Kristen and her work here.